Trucking: First computer-driven, commercial semi-truck to be approved by the Department of...

...Transportation of a US state to drive and transport goods on all super-highways between shipping depots within a state, without human supervision on board or being followed by a pursuit vehicle with a kill switch.

[87% of all large truck ("semis") accidents are due to human error. And when a truck driver falls asleep at the wheel, drifts over onto the oncoming traffic lane, and rams headlong into your car, the good news is that the truck driver is likely to survive. The bad news: you and your loved ones won't. It doesn't matter how big your SUV might be, it will be crushed like an empty aluminum soda can upon impact with a semi-truck going at highway speeds. Your airbags and seatbelts will only keep your corpse and the corpses of your loved ones in place for the coroner to remove AFTER the firefighters use their hydraulic cutting and prying tools to open up your crushed-can-of-a-car afterward. Then add in greater fuel savings (no human and cab needed for that human) and lower operating costs (no salary needed) and this future is guaranteed to happen. This challenge and its future ones are merely trying to encourage this switch-over to happen sooner so more lives can be saved.]

To win this challenge (and Future Challenges #1 - #5 and #9 - #10), the program must include a learning algorithm, must transmit at least once per operational day what it has learned to the company that developed the program, and download updates from that central server.

Future Challenges:

1) First computer-driven commercial semi-truck to be approved by the Departments of Transportation (DOT) of enough US states to enable it to drive (without human supervision on board or being followed by a pursuit vehicle with a kill switch) on the DOT’s super-highways to deliver a truckload of crushed cars, which were totaled in head-on collusions with semi-trucks resulting in the death of at least one driver or passenger in each, from a scrap yard on the East Coast to a metal recycling plant on the West Coast.

2) First computer-driven commercial semi-truck to be approved by all State Departments of Transportation to drive and transport goods on all super-highways between truck depots in all 48 continental US states.

3) First computer-driven commercial semi-truck to be approved by all State Departments of Transportation to drive and transport goods on all roads and highways in all 48 continental US states.

4) First commercial trucking company to add a computer-driven semi-truck to its fleet and regularly use it to transport cargo.

5) First commercial trucking company (with at least 100 trucks in its fleet) to only use computer-driven semi-trucks for its fleet.

6) First US state to not require computer-driven semi owners to have a driver’s license to be able to operate their computer-driven semis.

7) First US state to prohibit human-driven commercial semi-trucks from operating on its super-highways.

8) First major US state (9 million population or more) to prohibit human-driven commercial semi-trucks from operating on its super-highways.

First moving truck rental company to:

9) Offer a computer-driven moving truck to their customers. [The moving company giving the truck the mailing address of the mover, the truck driving there, the truck figuring out the best place to park to make it easiest and quickest for the movers to load, and, after being loaded and ready for the move, the mover giving the truck the mailing address it is to drive to and the truck driving there.]

10) Have all of its rental moving trucks be computer-driven. Moving company must have at least 100 rental moving trucks.

Discussion:
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